November 1, 1995

Statement by H. E. Ambassador Joao Clemente Baena Soares

...Brazil has always favored the idea of the establishment of an International Criminal Court as a relevant achievement of the international community. Justice and the International criminal system would be greatly strengthened by the creation of such a judiciary organ, which would avoid the proliferation of ad hoc tribunals as it has been the case in the last years.

In accordance with resolution 49/53, the General Assembly decided that, in the present year, we should study the report of other Ad Hoc Committees and the written comments submitted by States and decide on the convening of an international conference of plenipotentiaries to conclude a convention on the establishment of an International Criminal court, including on the timing and duration of the conference.

I would like to make some comments on the issues of the report which for their complexity and importance deserve closer consideration. My delegation reserves the right to express its opinion on each point of the draft statute during its analysis in the preparatory meetings of the conference, to be held next year.

It is the view of my delegation that the Ad Hoc Committee fulfilled its mandate of reviewing the major issues arising from the draft statute prepared by the International Law Commission. After the constructive discussions took place in its April and August sessions, the Committee found common ground on basically all issues raised in the ILC.

The delegation of Brazil shared the views of the majority of delegations in accepting, as recommended by the Commission, that the International criminal court should be established as an independent judicial organ by means of a multilateral treaty. It was also agreed that a close relationship between the court and the United Nations was a basic condition of the universality and moral authority of the court, as well as of its financial and administrative viability.